An image of playwright William Shakespeare from a first edition of "The Herball", a sixteenth century book on plants, is seen at an office in London, Britain May 19, 2015. (Reuters/Toby Melville) / Reuters

A historic botany book dating back to the 16th century showcases what may be the only known portrait of William Shakespeare drawn while he was alive, an academic expert says.

Historian and botanist, Mark Griffiths, claims to have uncovered
an “authentic” image of the famed playwright, poet and
actor in a book about plants published over 400 years ago.

The theory surfaced in an article published on Tuesday in UK art
and antiques magazine Country Life.

10 years ago, Griffiths set out to write a biography about the
author and botanist John Gerard who published a book about plants
in 1589 named ‘The Herball.’

First look at botanist/historian Mark Griffiths who cracked an
“ingenious cipher” to identify Shakespeare engraving http://t.co/6attZzQfLQ

It remains the largest single volume work on plants published in
English to this day.

While analyzing the book as part of his research, Griffiths
discovered it contained images of those who were involved in the
creation of it.

He noticed four key figures: an image of Gerard himself, two
images of Gerard’s employers, and a fourth mysterious figure
dressed in Roman-style clothing.

The unidentified bearded man had a laurel wreath tied around his
head and was holding an ear of sweetcorn. Griffith’s curiosity
fuelled him to conduct an investigation to uncover the identity
of the mysterious young man.

During his research, Griffiths discovered the identities of each
figure in the book were encoded with Tudor symbols.

However, Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare
Institute at the University of Birmingham, disagrees.

He said he“can’t imagine any reason
why Shakespeare would be in a botany text book.”

“It’s a lovely picture. Everybody is fond of it,” Dobson
said. However, he rebuffs the idea that the image is an authentic
portrait of the famed playwright and poet.

Commenting on the newly found image, Professor of English
Literature at the University of Oxford, Jonathan Bate said
Griffiths is “very convincing on William Shakespeare’s
detailed knowledge of Gerard.”

“He seems to be correct that the other three images on the
title page are people associated with the book, so logically the
fourth man must be a real person,” he said.

Bate argued the reading of the archaic image as Shakespeare is
“a stretch far from proven,” but the theory should not
be discounted.

He said it has more plausibility than other supposed Shakespeare
portraits that have emerged in recent years.